Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/everyone-can-bird-first-of-three-accessible-birding-events-2/

Everyone can bird final outing on Oct. 14

On: October 2, 2023

In: Embark Support Employment, ervatory, everyone can bird, Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Minnesota Land Trust, World Migratory Bird Day

All are invited to attend the last in a series of three events designed for birders of all skills and abilities. Join “Everyone Can Bird: World Migratory Bird Day,” 9:30-11:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 14, at. Hawk Ridge in Duluth.

Designed with accessibility in mind, the event will provide American Sign Language interpretation, stationary birding options, binoculars and spotting scopes for use. Expert birding guides will lead discussion and aid observation. The Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, Hawk Ridge, Lake Superior Reserve, Wisconsin Sea Grant, Embark Support Employment and the Minnesota Land Trust sponsor the “Everyone Can Bird” series.

Birders practicing their craft on World Migratory Bird Day a few years ago. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Free transportation is available, departing from the Superior Public Library (530 Tower Ave.) at 9 a.m. People driving themselves should access Hawk Ridge on East Skyline Parkway from Glenwood Ave. and continue past the first overlook on the paved road another half mile or so on the gravel road to another overlook. Look for Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory signage and the count platform. Accessible parking is available near the welcome table and Hawk Ridge merchandise trailer. Look for parking guidance via signage.

This event will include an “Eyes on the Skies” educational program from 10-11 a.m. in the outdoor classroom at Hawk Ridge, located up a gravel trail from the bird viewing location along the road. Learn about the history of the fall migration along the tip of Lake Superior and how to identify common raptors. In bad weather, the “Eyes on the Skies” program will be held indoors at the nearby Lester Amity Ski Chalet. An additional “Eyes on the Skies” program will be held at 11 a.m. outdoors on Hawk Ridge as part of Hawk Ridge’s Duluth Community Day events.

Registration is encouraged but not required. Learn more or register at https://go.wisc.edu/wwi6l1. These activities are designed with access in mind. People who would like to request additional accommodations should email Luciana.Ranelli@wisc.edu or call Luciana at 715-399-4085 at least 10 days before the event.

“Everyone Can Bird” is part of Duluth Community Day at Hawk Ridge. Both programs celebration World Migratory Bird Day, the raptors migrating through Hawk Ridge and people out enjoying nature together. For more on the family activities happening on Oct. 14 from 9:30-11:30 a.m., visit hawkridge.org.

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In: Alexandra Pesano, Allie Pesano, black-capped chickadees, Emily Pavlovic, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, house wrens, Human Health and Environment Research Fellows Program, John Haselman, Matt Etterson, PFAS and birds, tree swallows, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, University of Minnesota Duluth

Allie Pesano: On a treasure hunt for birds

On: January 25, 2023

Allie Pesano. Submitted photo.

Allie Pesano first got turned onto birds as an undergraduate at Unity College in Maine. She was studying wildlife biology and, for one class, students were required to learn about various common North American wildlife species. The variety of birds sparked her curiosity, ultimately leading to her current six-month fellowship in avian toxicology with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division in Duluth, Minnesota.

“I realized that every bird I saw wasn’t the same thing,” Pesano said. “They’re all very nuanced and unique. That led to my interest in learning more about birds in general. Even in my spare time, I would flip through the bird guide and just kind of go on a treasure hunt in my own back yard to see what kinds of birds were around.”

Her back yard was in Syracuse, New York. After obtaining her undergraduate degree, she flitted about the country like a bird, researching migrating hawks in Nevada, nesting endangered sparrows in Florida and resilient saltmarshes in Massachusetts, which, of course, provide homes for wetland birds. Most recently, she graduated with a master’s degree in integrated biosciences from the University of Minnesota Duluth. There, in collaboration with the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, she used satellite transmitters to determine where some unique, dark-plumaged red-tailed hawks were migrating from on their way through Duluth. These hawks are usually only found in the western part of North America and are rare in the East. This bird treasure hunt led her to northeastern Canada.

One of the dark-plummaged red-tailed hawks that Pesano studied for her master’s research. This bird was captured in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) in February 2021, and was named “Manley.” He was the first dark red-tailed hawk fitted with a satellite transmitter. Manley spent the last two summers in northern Manitoba and has returned to the same winter territory in the Twin Cities since researchers have been studying his movements. Submitted photo.

“We discovered they had been spending summers and the breeding season in northern Manitoba and Ontario. Birds that look really dark like that would not, to our historical knowledge, be nesting and breeding in those provinces usually. They would more likely nest in Alaska or British Columbia,” Pesano said.

Pesano’s latest quest involves researching the impacts of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) on the reproductive success of birds in the Duluth area. Under the mentorships of Matt Etterson and John Haselman at the EPA, Pesano is studying tree swallows, black-capped chickadees and house wrens with another EPA Fellow, Emily Pavlovic. Funded by the University of Wisconsin-Madison but working in Duluth, Pesano is looking into things like the quality and quantity of food to see if there’s any correlation between what the birds are eating and their reproductive success.

The goal of this research is to create a toxicology model that scientists can use to predict, based on contamination concentrations in the environment, what the exposure risk would be to birds in that area.

Pesano checks a tree swallow nest as part of her EPA avian PFAS study. Submitted photo.

The three-year U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Human Health and the Environment Research Fellows program is a partnership between the EPA, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its Aquatic Sciences Center. The goal is to train the next generation of scientists in environmental and ecosystem health.

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In: accessible birding, Ashland County, Bayfield County, Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Kate McCall, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, Luciana Ranelli, Magaret Menzies, Mick MacKenzie, Pat Collins, University of Wisconsin Extension, Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center

Accessible birding event delivers

On: October 11, 2022

Participants of an accessible birding event spot birds on Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Barker’s Island in the Duluth-Superior Harbor was the site of a free, bird-focused morning recently. People of all ages and ability levels attended an accessible birding outing led by experts from the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve.

The group met at the Lake Superior Estuarium on the island in Superior. They were welcomed by Luciana Ranelli, education coordinator for the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve. She explained the three options for learning about birds. First was inside the Estuarium, where staff from the University of Wisconsin-Extension Upham Woods Learning Center had arranged bird artifacts and learning stations. Second was a spotting scope behind the Estuarium staffed by Pat Collins, a volunteer birding expert with the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve. This was designed for birders with mobility issues or anyone who preferred a more stationary option. The third was a guided tour along the Barker’s Island boardwalk with Margie Menzies, educator director for the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth.

Mick MacKenzie (right) talks birds with Pat Collins. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Superior resident and former city council member Mick MacKenzie recently had hip surgery, so the second station appealed to him. He said he came to the event because he’s “enjoying life. It’s good to be out in nature.”

After discussing the population health of kingfishers in the estuary with Collins, MacKenzie said, “When I was a kid, there was nothing down here on Barker’s Island. We’d come here to explore and play, so all this new development is really something to see: the whaleback and the hotel . . .”

MacKenzie was interrupted by Collins. “There’s a hummingbird right here!” Collins said.

MacKenzie expressed surprise that the birds were still around in September.

“They migrate through starting this time of year,” Collins said. “As long as there are flowers in bloom, they’ll stick around.”

Meanwhile, Menzies’ group got oriented to their binoculars and began their walk on the boardwalk. Sightings of the ubiquitous herring gulls around the island prompted Menzies to discuss a rare bird that steals gulls’ food: the parasitic jaeger. An annual Jaeger Birding Festival is held on nearby Wisconsin Point annually this time of year because it’s a prime time for spotting jaegers during their migration south from the arctic.

Her discussion was interrupted when two pigeons landed on the Estuarium roof. “When you look at birds, particularly from a distance, what do you notice about that bird that helps you think about what it is. What kinds of diagnostic clues can you look at on that bird?” Menzies asked.

Someone mentioned the pigeons’ orange feet.

“Yes, those red-orangey feet are a dead giveaway for pigeons. And a nice chunky body,” Menzies added.

The group moved farther along the boardwalk, following the shoreline of the island to the public beach, which is surrounded by native plants. Along the way, they spotted a turkey vulture, common mergansers, mallards, cormorants and warblers.

Kate McCall (right) and another birder look at cormorants off Barker’s Island. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Kate McCall, a member of the board of directors for the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve group, said she attended the event because, “This is the stuff I love.” She is interested in making the outdoors more accessible for people of differing abilities and attended an accessibility training session offered by the Reserve previously.

Just one of the things she learned was that cormorants don’t shed water off their backs as easily as other birds after they’ve been diving. “That’s why they’re so clumsy when they fly afterwards,” McCall said. “I always wondered about that. It’s fun to learn more, not just about the habitat of birds, but their patterns of flight, as well. I just really enjoyed it.”

This free event was made possible through the University of Wisconsin–Madison Dean’s Innovation Grant to collaborators from Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center, the Reserve, Wisconsin Sea Grant, University of Wisconsin-Extension, and Bayfield and Ashland counties.

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In: Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, avian toxicology, Earlham College, Emily Pavlovic, Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Matt Etterson, PFAS, University of Minnesota Duluth, US EPA Human Health and the Environment Research Fellows Program

EPA Fellow Emily Pavlovic: Up-close and personal with birds

On: September 21, 2022

Emily Pavlovic, EPA Fellow in avian toxicology, holds a northern saw-whet owl. Submitted photo

Emily Pavlovic’s love of birds didn’t come to the fore until after college when she worked at an Audubon Center. She turned that love into her vocation and is now a fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division in Duluth, Minnesota. Under mentorship from Matt Etterson, Pavlovic is looking at the impacts of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) on the reproductive success of birds in the Duluth area.

After Pavlovic earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Earlham College, she spent five years working as an environmental educator at various nature centers around the U.S. before earning her master’s degree.

Emily Pavlovic holds an American kestrel. Submitted photo

“I was able to work up-close and personal with the birds and really see the power they have on engaging the public,” Pavlovic said. “The birds capture people’s attention so that you can teach about other really important things like contaminants in the environment, or basic ecology.”

At the Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm in Dayton, Ohio, Pavlovic had the chance to work with an American kestrel. This small, fierce raptor became an educational bird after an accident broke its wing.

“This kestrel was spunky and loud. It didn’t always do the things I wanted it to do. It taught me a lot,” Pavlovic said. “Seeing peoples’ reactions when they saw this beautiful bird up-close was pretty incredible.”

Pavlovic’s passion for birds led her to the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, a nature reserve along the Lake Superior coast that’s one of the premier bird-watching sites in fall as birds migrate south. For her master’s degree in integrated biosciences at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Pavlovic collected feathers from three different species of juvenile raptors that were caught in mist nets (red-tailed hawks, sharp-shinned hawks and northern saw-whet owls). Analyzing the feathers for hydrogen-stable isotopes allowed her to identify where geographically the birds had been born, providing more information for the ridge’s long-term dataset.

A nest box holds a black-capped chickadee nest and eggs. Submitted photo

For her six-month EPA avian toxicology fellowship, Pavlovic is studying tree swallows, black-capped chickadees and house wrens. “We’ve got a bunch of nest box locations around Duluth that we’re assessing for reproductive success and various metrics of how the birds are doing. Then we’re relating that to the amount of PFAS in the environment in those areas,” Pavlovic said.

The three-year U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Human Health and the Environment Research Fellows program fellowship program is a partnership between the EPA, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its Aquatic Sciences Center. The goal is to train the next generation of scientists in environmental and ecosystem health.

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